The revamped Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci in Prato reopens today after the long renovation works that have massively transformed the exhibition center. Dutch architect Maurice Nio’s design has created an extension to the the building through the addition of a space shuttle-shaped extension, while the existing museum building by Italo Gamberini has been thoroughly refurbished. The long-awaited reopening is celebrated through a comprehensive group show “La fine del Mondo – The End of the World”, co-curated by Director Fabio Cavallucci and a team of international guest advisors/curators.

The exhibition showcases works by some 50 Italian and international artists, spreading throughout the 3000 sq meter wide display area of the center and covering a variety of artistic practices and languages: painting, sculpture, installation, video and photography intertwine with music, theater, cinema, architecture and design to create an immersive and engaging narrative. The aim of the show is to draw a thought-provoking journey back to the past and forward to the future in order to investigate our cognitive and perception capability to interpret the dramatic changes affecting our times. Are the canons through which we understand the overwhelming current events still suitable to the purpose or maybe we need to reconfigure our way to perceive the reality? Are we all experiencing the “End of the World” meaning that the world as we see it represents only the remains of an out-of-date system of interpretation of the present time?

The museum’s Director Fabio Cavallucci in the launch press conference explains that: ” The theme of the show doesn’t suggest any imminent catastrophic climax, however it looks more and more plausible that what we’re currently experiencing is the end of our certainties as we’re now suspended between a closed past and an unforeseeable future.” Placing itself halfway between the narratives of the 2015 Venice Biennale “All the World’s Futures” and the previous edition’s “The Encyclopedic Palace”, the exhibitions touches upon a number of subjects, oscillating between the representation of accumulated knowledge through taxonomies and repetitions, large scale artworks – mostly expressing the artists’ differentiated and often visionary reading of the reality – and the desire to provide some sort of an answer to the concerns for the world’s future.

It’s a shame however that part of the display is still under construction on the press launch day – or else the ongoing works are part of the exhibit’s concept? It is rather awkward to judge whether the curatorial effort has been thoroughly successful or not, as you stumble on unfinished sections while on your way towards the exit of the show.

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